1. Field of the Invention
The present general inventive concept relates to a scanning apparatus. More particularly, the present general inventive concept relates to a flatbed scanning apparatus and an image forming apparatus having the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a flatbed scanning apparatus is an apparatus that places a document at a fixed position and forces a scanning module to move and to read the document.
A conventional flatbed scanning apparatus includes a platen where a document is placed, and a scanning module that is movably disposed under the platen and reads the document on the platen.
The scanning module includes a scanning light source to illuminate the document, and a scanning sensor that receives light reflected from the document and converts it to electrical signals. The scanning module uses a charge-coupled device (CCD) or a CMOS image sensor (CIS) as the scanning sensor. The CCD sensor needs great intensity of light enough to read images of the document. Therefore, the scanning module having the CCD sensor uses scanning light sources with great intensity of light. The CIS sensor can read images of the document using small intensity of light, so that the scanning module having the CIS sensor uses the scanning light sources with small intensity of light.
When scanning a document in the flatbed scanning apparatus, a user sets the document on the platen and turns on the flatbed scanning apparatus. Then, the scanning module moves under the platen and reads the document. In other words, when the flatbed scanning apparatus is turned on, the scanning light source emits light toward the document, and then, the scanning sensor receives the light reflected from the document and converts it to electrical signals representing the second document.
When performing a scanning work in a flatbed scanning apparatus, the document on the platen need to be covered by a lid to minimize deterioration of scanned images caused by outside lights. However, when scanning the document covered by the lid, a user cannot see the scanning module moving under the platen. As a result, there is a problem that users cannot know a scanning progress status during the scanning work.
In an attempt to solve the above problem, there has been developed a flatbed scanning apparatus that has a light guiding member that guides light emitted from a scanning light source to an outside of the flatbed scanning apparatus, so that users can perceive a scanning progress status according to light emitting through the light guiding member.
The above-described method allows users to easily perceive a scanning progress status. However, it is required to use a scanning light source with greater intensity of light in order to guide light of the scanning light source to the outside. As a result, the above method can be applied to flatbed scanning apparatuses using CCD sensors, but cannot be applied to flatbed scanning apparatuses using CIS sensors. Accordingly, there is a need for developing methods or apparatuses to allow users to easily perceive a scanning progress status of a scanning apparatus using a scanning light source with small intensity of light.